Granite and marble Art Deco towers by Albert Kahn rise over a low commercial boulevard, and the Fisher Building's marble lobby stood in for a briefing room in a Transformers sequel.
What New Center looks like
West Grand Boulevard runs into New Center from the west, four lanes wide with the QLine's tracks down the middle. The 's tower dates from 1928 and rises twenty eight storeys, faced in granite and marble. Its roof steps up to a green tile pyramid and an antenna mast, flanked by two lower wings. Across Second Avenue, the matches its granite and bluestone cladding at ten storeys. An underground concourse links the two towers.
East along the boulevard, steps back at angles, its limestone wings capped in green copper cornices over street level arcades. South on Baltimore Avenue, the 's brick and limestone bands rise eleven storeys at a similar scale. The , on Second Avenue, keeps its factory windows and a rooftop sign.
Off the boulevard, is closed to cars, a brick pedestrian walk between rows of iron lampposts and dormered houses set back behind small lawns. stands on Woodward Avenue in rough cut stone, twin towers over a wide arched window.
A QLine streetcar runs the length of Woodward, stopping at curbside platforms among storefronts and neon signs. Detroit's Amtrak station sits on Baltimore Avenue, a single low platform beside open tracks. Northern Lights Lounge marks its corner with an arrow shaped neon sign against red brick.
Shot in New Center
The Fisher Building's marble lobby arcade served as a briefing room in a 2011 Transformers film. Colonel Lennox reviews intelligence on a mysterious discovery inside its three storey arched hall.
Transformers: Dark of the Moon, 2011
The Fisher Building
Colonel Lennox is briefed on a discovery in Ukraine inside the Fisher Building's three storey marble lobby arcade. Its hand painted vaulted ceiling and marble corridors stand in for a military installation. Street View
Rockefeller Center's limestone Art Deco towers sit over the same kind of underground concourse that links the Fisher Building to its companion tower, at a scale several blocks wider. The concourse there runs to a skating rink and dense retail, so a shot of Art Deco office concourse detail works better than a wide plaza view. Try searching Art Deco office concourse now.
Terminal Tower in Cleveland, Ohio
Terminal Tower's Beaux Arts office group rises over Public Square in the same limestone and granite as New Center's towers, built within a few years of the Fisher Building. Cleveland's tower is taller and its square wider, so a shot framed tight on the limestone office group hides the difference in scale. Try searching limestone office group now.
LaSalle Street in Chicago, Illinois
LaSalle Street's canyon of Art Deco bank towers shares the same period granite and limestone facades as New Center's office buildings. The street itself is narrower and busier with traffic, so a static facade shot works better than one that shows the roadway. Try searching Art Deco bank towers now.
